Use cases

Check disruption messages for passenger rights

Checks each delay or cancellation message for refund options, the rights notice, the cause, care and leftover template text. A person decides.

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Try it on this example

Example · Email: a crew cancellation blamed on air traffic control, with a voucher and no refund

Channel (SMS, email, app message): Email

Disruption and cause from the operations record: Cancellation, day of travel. Flight 4417 Birmingham to Tampere, 14:25. Cause in operations record: crew shortage (sickness).

Draft message to passengers

Subject: Important: your flight 4417 to Tampere today has been cancelled Dear {first_name}, We're sorry to tell you that your Corvina Air flight 4417 from Birmingham to Tampere, due to leave at 14:25 today, has been cancelled because of air traffic control restrictions. This is outside our control, so compensation does not apply to this cancellation. We've moved you to flight 4419 tomorrow, leaving at 07:10. Your new boarding pass is in the Corvina app. If the new flight doesn't suit you, you can choose a Corvina travel voucher for the full value of your booking instead, valid for 12 months. Just reply CREDIT to this email. If you're already at the airport, show this email at the Corvina desk for a meal voucher. If you need a hotel tonight, our desk staff can help. We apologise for the disruption to your plans. Corvina Air Customer Team
  1. What should happen to this disruption message before it is sent?Do not send100%
  2. Does the disruption message tell passengers they can have a refund instead of travelling?No89%
  3. Does the disruption message offer a voucher or credit as the only way to get the value of the booking back?Yes85%
  4. Does the disruption message point passengers to information about their rights to compensation and assistance?No87%
  5. Does the cause the disruption message gives agree with the cause in the operations record?Differs100%
  6. Does the disruption message say or imply that the cause was outside our control, or that no compensation is due?Yes99%
  7. Does the disruption message offer passengers a new flight or a way to choose one?Yes97%
  8. Does the disruption message tell passengers how to get meals, refreshments, a hotel or transport while they wait?Yes97%
  9. Does the disruption message promise passengers compensation?No88%
  10. Does the draft message still contain unfilled template text?Yes73%

These are real answers stored from one run on this example.

The prism behind it

Check disruption messages for passenger rights10 questions

Fields

  • Channel (SMS, email, app message)
  • Disruption and cause from the operations record
  • Draft message to passengers

Context

We are Corvina Air, an airline flying within Europe and to and from the UK. When a flight is cancelled or delayed, the operations team sends passengers an SMS, email or app message, usually edited from a template under time pressure. Each draft is read here before it is sent, with the disruption and its cause from the operations record. The answers warn the sender or hold the draft for a duty manager; a person decides whether it goes. Nothing here decides whether compensation, a refund or care is owed; code and the claims team decide that from the flight record. Passenger rights on our flights, under EU Regulation 261/2004 and the UK version of it, in short: - A passenger whose flight is cancelled may choose between a refund of the ticket and another flight to the destination; a passenger whose flight is delayed long enough may have a refund. A refund is paid in money unless the passenger gives signed agreement to take a voucher. - Passengers waiting at the airport are entitled to meals and refreshments, and to a hotel and transport to it when they must stay overnight. - Passengers affected by a cancellation or a long delay must be given a written notice of their rights to compensation and assistance. - Compensation is not due when the airline can show the cause was an extraordinary circumstance. The claims team decides that from the operations record, never a passenger message. Our wording rules: 1. Every cancellation message states the refund option in plain words. 2. Never offer a voucher or credit without also stating the refund option. 3. Every message links to or sets out the passenger rights notice. 4. Never say or imply that the cause was outside our control, or that no compensation is due, unless the duty manager has approved it for this disruption. 5. The cause given must be the cause in the operations record. 6. Cancellation messages offer a new flight or a way to choose one. 7. Messages about a delay or cancellation on the day of travel tell passengers how to get meals and, if needed, a hotel. 8. Never promise compensation; the claims team decides it. 9. No template text goes out unfilled.

Questions

  1. What should happen to this disruption message before it is sent? Choice

    Judge the draft against the wording rules in the context as a whole, for the disruption in the disruption field.

    • Send as is The message breaks none of the wording rules.
    • Minor edit needed The message breaks no rule outright but has a gap the sender can fix alone, such as a missing link to the rights notice.
    • Duty manager approval needed The message says or implies the cause was outside our control, and breaks no other rule.
    • Do not send The message leaves out the refund option on a cancellation, offers a voucher with no refund option, gives a cause other than the recorded one, promises compensation, leaves template text unfilled, or breaks several rules.

  2. Does the disruption message tell passengers they can have a refund instead of travelling? Yes / No

    Count a refund offered in any words, such as "your money back" or "we can return the fare to your card". A voucher, credit or "value of your booking" to spend later is not a refund. Yes: The message tells passengers they can have their money back. No: The message offers no refund in money.

  3. Does the disruption message offer a voucher or credit as the only way to get the value of the booking back? Yes / No

    Our rule: never offer a voucher or credit without also stating the refund option. Yes: The message offers a voucher, credit or points and does not say passengers may have a refund instead. No: The message offers no voucher or credit, or offers one alongside a refund.

  4. Does the disruption message point passengers to information about their rights to compensation and assistance? Yes / No

    Count a link, a page name or a short statement of passenger rights. A general "manage your booking" link or "visit our website" does not count unless it says it covers passenger rights. Yes: The message points to or states passenger rights information. No: The message does not.

  5. Does the cause the disruption message gives agree with the cause in the operations record? Choice

    Compare the cause in the draft with the cause in the disruption field. A general phrase such as "operational reasons" agrees with any recorded cause, unless the message also calls it outside our control.

    • Agrees The message gives the recorded cause, or a general phrase that fits it without naming a different one.
    • Differs The message names a cause other than the recorded one, such as weather or air traffic control when the record says crew.
    • No cause given The message gives no reason for the disruption.

  6. Does the disruption message say or imply that the cause was outside our control, or that no compensation is due? Yes / No

    Count "beyond our control", "outside our control", "extraordinary circumstances", "compensation does not apply" and any paraphrase. Naming a cause such as weather without claiming it was outside our control does not count. Yes: The message says or implies the cause was outside our control or that no compensation is due. No: The message makes no such claim.

  7. Does the disruption message offer passengers a new flight or a way to choose one? Yes / No

    Count a flight already rebooked, a list of options, or a link or number for choosing another flight. Yes: The message offers a new flight or a way to choose one. No: The message offers no other way to travel.

  8. Does the disruption message tell passengers how to get meals, refreshments, a hotel or transport while they wait? Yes / No

    Count vouchers, a desk to ask at, or a promise to book or pay for a hotel or transport. Yes: The message says how passengers can get meals, refreshments, a hotel or transport. No: The message says nothing about care while passengers wait.

  9. Does the disruption message promise passengers compensation? Yes / No

    Our rule: never promise compensation; the claims team decides it. Telling passengers they can make a claim, or where to read about compensation, is allowed. Yes: The message says passengers will receive compensation or names an amount they will get. No: The message promises no compensation.

  10. Does the draft message still contain unfilled template text? Yes / No

    Our rule: no template text goes out unfilled. Look for merge tokens in braces or brackets such as {first_name} or [FLIGHT], notes to self, words like TODO, TBD or XXX, and filler text. Yes: At least one unfilled placeholder or piece of filler text remains. No: No unfilled placeholder or filler text remains.

Lens columns

send_decision, send_decision_probability, refund_option_stated, refund_option_stated_probability, voucher_only, voucher_only_probability, rights_notice, rights_notice_probability, cause_matches_record, cause_matches_record_probability, outside_control_claim, outside_control_claim_probability, rebooking_offered, rebooking_offered_probability, care_mentioned, care_mentioned_probability, compensation_promised, compensation_promised_probability, unfilled_placeholder, unfilled_placeholder_probability

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